PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Sophomore Sang Yi fired an impressive 2-under par round of 70 in Monday’s second round of the 2010 John Hayt Invitational at Sawgrass Country Club to catapult himself into the Top 10 of the leaderboard in a tie for seventh place overall with a 36-hole score of 1-over 145.
On the strength of Yi’s effort, the Tigers fired a team score of 5-over 293 in the second round to finish the day in sole possession of seventh place in the team race with a score of 21-over 597 in two rounds.
After opening the championship with a 3-over 75 in Sunday’s first round, Yi broke par for the second time this season to position himself for his first Top 10 finish of the season. Yi fired out of the gate with a birdie on the par-four first hole, while he added birdies at the par-five fourth and par-four seventh holes to make the turn at 3-under par for his second round.
After falling back to 1-under following a bogey on the par-four 13th hole, Yi carded back-to-back birdies on the par-four 14th and par-three 15th holes and a bogey on the par-four 17th hole en route to a 2-under 70 during Monday’s action and a cumulative score of 1-over 145 after two days of competition.
Yi will open the final round on Tuesday eight shots out of the lead as Joe Byun of North Florida extended his first-round lead with a 3-under 69 in the second round for a 36-hole score of 6-under 138.
Austin Reeves of Furman follows three shots behind Byun in second place, while Sean Dale of North Florida, Dan Obremski of Coastal Carolina and Florian Sander of Georgia Southern are four shots back in a three-way tie for third place in the individual standings.
Junior Andrew Loupe added a solid 1-over par round of 73 on Tuesday to move into a tie for 28th place on the leaderboard with a 36-hole score of 3-over 147. Sophomore Austin Gutgsell and junior John Peterson matched one another with a 3-over 75 in the second round as Gutgsell is tied for 12th place at 3-over 147 and Peterson is in 65th place at 12-over 156. Senior Brent Blaum improved with a 5-over 77 in the second round to finish the day in a tie for 66th place at 13-over 157.
The Tigers are paired with Alabama and TCU in Tuesday’s final round and will tee off from the first hole beginning at 7 a.m. CT. Live scoring of the final round can be found online at www.golfstat.com.
JOHN HAYT INVITATIONAL – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. North Florida 288-294 – 582 +6; 2. Duke 294-291 – 585 +9; 3. Furman 296-297 – 593 +17; T4. Central Florida 304-292 – 596 +20; T4. Tulsa 303-293 – 596 +20; T4. Georgia Southern 301-295 – 596 +20; 7. LSU 304-293 – 597 +21; 8. Alabama 307-291 – 598 +22; 9. TCU 298-302 – 600 +24; 10. Tennessee 304-297 – 601 +25; T11. Coastal Carolina 307-296 – 603 +27; T11. Florida 310-293 – 603 +27; 13. NC State 312-298 – 610 +34; 14. UAB 313-298 – 311 +35; 15. Mercer 312-312 – 624 +48.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Joe Byun, North Florida, 69-69 – 138 -6; 2. Austin Reeves, Furman, 71-70 – 141 -3; T3. Sean Dale, North Florida, 72-70 – 142 -2; T3. Dan Obremski, Coastal Carolina, 75-67 – 142 -2; T3. Florian Sander, Georgia Southern, 71-71 – 142 -2; 6. Rob Laird, Tulsa, 75-69 – 144 E; T7. Garland Ferrell, Furman, 73-72 – 145 +1; T7. Adam Long, Duke, 72-73 – 145 +1; T7. Sang Yi, LSU, 75-70 – 145 +1; T10. Nuno Henriques, Central Florida, 75-71 – 146 +2; T10. Tyler McCumber, Florida, 75-71 – 146 +2.
LSU SCORES
T7. Sang Yi, 75-70 – 145 +1
T12. Austin Gutgsell, 72-75 – 147 +3
T28. Andrew Loupe, 77-73 – 150 +6
65. John Peterson, 81-75 – 156 +12
T66. Brent Blaum, 80-77 – 157 +13